


Rikushi

by BraveheartZX



Series: Rikushi - BraveheartZX [1]
Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:01:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25260556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BraveheartZX/pseuds/BraveheartZX
Relationships: Riku/Xion (Kingdom Hearts)
Series: Rikushi - BraveheartZX [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1830076
Comments: 3
Kudos: 4





	Rikushi

With Sora being lost, and Kairi putting herself to sleep to help the search for Sora, Riku was left with no one to talk to. He’d already checked up on Aqua, Ventus and Terra, and the group from Radiant Garden, and now it was the Twilight Town residents' turn. If he was honest, he was looking forward to seeing Xion again. He never got to apologize for taking what was essentially, everything from her. Her life, her friends, everything. All so he could have his friend back. It made his heart ache with guilt. He knew it had to be done, but the constant feeling of guilt overwhelmed him when he saw her again in the Keyblade Graveyard. He couldn’t bring himself to talk to her then. But he could finally get this off of his chest. Riku, now the pilot of the Gummiship, started it up and blasted off. Instead of calling Roxas, Xion, or Lea, he opted to call Naminé. Roxas was still bitter about what happened, and rightfully so. Lea just never answered his phone. And it'd be weird to call Xion. Besides, he and Naminé were already sort of talking regularly. He tapped on Naminé's icon and waited for her to pick up. Not long after, a familiar soft voice picked up.

"Hi, Riku!" Naminé smiled.

Riku smiled back. "Hey. Tell the others I'll be there soon. Just gonna check up on progress." 

Naminé's smile faded. She knew he just wanted his friend back, but that seemed to be all he cared about recently. This was the second time, too. "All right. Oh! Do you want to get ice cream with us? We're about to go!" 

"Nah, ice cream isn't really my thing. Besides, I'm just leaving. Maybe when I have some free time. Thanks for the offer, though. I'll be there soon. See you." Riku looked back up toward the direction he was heading, making sure he was on course. 

"Okay… See you." Naminé hung up, and went to tell the others. 

Riku wondered if he'd been too direct lately. Not that he had no reason to, but the past year has just been really stressful. No time for that though, he needed to focus on driving. 

About 20 minutes passed before he got to Twilight Town. Even going top speed in the Gummiship wasn't too fast. He was in Radiant Garden, and that's a ways away from Twilight Town. From the tower, everyone could see the Gummiship appear from the sky. The other's needed to leave Hayner, Pence and Olette but they knew what was happening so they didn't mind. Riku landed and for everyone at the bottom. They arrived, and exchanged greetings. Riku smiled and Roxas glared, the usual. 

"Hey there, Mister Keyblade Master. You really couldn't come up with us? We coulda waited, you know." Lea smiled but was elbowed in the side by Roxas. 

"There's no more room up there anyway." Roxas squinted at Riku. 

"Roxas! Don't be mean!" Xion put her hand on his shoulder as he sighed and got less tense. 

"You lot have fun. I'm going back home." Isa waved and walked off. 

"Hey! You can't just run off because you don't want to be here!" Lea chased after Isa, obviously because he didn't want to be there either. The remaining four shared a laugh before returning to the main topic. Riku's face turned back into a neutral/sad expression. Xion hadn't seen him since they all were together on Destiny Islands. Was this affecting him that much…? Either way, she felt bad for him. 

"Any new leads?" Riku asked the group.

"We have to go back tomorrow. They're analyzing something they thought was weird." Xion looked up at Riku.

"But they tell us that every other week." Roxas muttered. Naminé put her hand on his shoulder and shook her head.

"Hm… Well, if anything comes from it, you know what to do." Riku smiled at Xion, albeit a bit half-heartedly. Xion noticed. 

"Hey Naminé, I wanna catch up with Riku. You take Mr. Gouchy with Lea and Isa." Xion and Naminé giggled, and Roxas was visibly offended but they went to find Lea and Isa. This went perfect for Riku, actually. They both turned to each other and started to speak at the same time. They noticed and laughed, and Riku insisted Xion went first.

"Sorry about Roxas. He can hold grudges for a while." Xion giggled.

"Nah, it's fine. He has every right to, anyway. Don't worry about it. I was hoping to talk to you, actually." Riku looked down at Xion, realizing he'd gotten taller since they last talked. Xion noticed too but was quickly surprised.

"Huh? Why me? Do you think I have something to do with finding Sora?" She turned her head, curiously.

"No. I wanted to apologize for what happened before. Even if it had to be done, I feel bad for making you make that decision. I know I'd have a hard time with it too." Riku's smile faded again back into his usual face. Xion shook her head and smiled with wide eyes. 

"It's okay. And I don't think you would have trouble with it. You always do what's right. I watched you when I was still in Sora's heart. And besides…" Her smile got brighter and wider. "You remembered me the longest." 

Riku was taken aback by that. His eyes widened and his mouth hung open for a second before he spoke again. "What do you mean? How can you know?" 

Xion giggled again. "I was watching you while you fought Roxas. When you mentioned it was hard to remember even my name, Roxas Didn't even know who you were talking about, and just got more angry." She took a step closer to him, her hands behind her back. "I should be thanking you." 

Riku's brows furrowed, looking visibly confused. "What? What'd I do?" 

"You made me happy." Xion smiled even brighter.

"Whaat?!" Riku's face went red and he took a step back, eyes wide.

"You made me realize what I had to do. If it weren't for you, someone would've taken me by force or done something against my will. You let me have time to think about it. And you wanted to make sure I was alright with what was going to happen, and I was. Because I knew if something went wrong, you'd find a way to fix it. And you did!" Xion smiled again, seeing Riku speechless. "I watched you while I was still in Sora's heart. When you were in his dreams, too. And for the record, you do deserve to be a Master." Xion grinned, tilting her head. 

"I… Thanks. Or… You're welcome…?" They both laughed. "That made me feel a lot better, though. Thank you." Riku smiled genuinely. If Xion didn't know any better she'd think her heart just skipped a beat and melted. "Sometimes I forget to look up every so often without Sora and Kairi here." He laughed for a second but Xion looked down. "Well I should get going then. I'll see you next time, Xion." He started walking back into the Gummiship. Xion wanted to stop him for some reason. But she just figured she felt bad for him. He needed time to worry. 

"Riku?"

"Yeah?"

She hesitated for a second. Just looking at him. "We're going to find him." 

Riku paused and looked down. Then back to Xion, with a smile. "I know." 

With that, he left. Xion held her hands close to her heart, watching him leave. It made her feel a little down that he already had to leave. There's always next time, anyway. 

A few weeks had passed. Riku kept thinking about what Xion said. She even made him smile genuinely, which he hadn't done much recently. Riku had downtime now, and he figured that maybe he should see if Xion could make him feel better again. So, they hung out more frequently. At first, it was only once per week. Then, it happened more. Riku went to pick her up today, since she asked to go with him. She sounded a little sad, though. 

When he got there, it was just Xion at the tower. Usually Roxas or the others were with her. Maybe she just wanted to take a day away from Twilight Town, he thought. Still… She looked upset. 

"Are you ready to go? Yen Sid wants me to deliver Gummiphones to Sora's friends in the other worlds. If you wanna stay in the ship while I do that it's okay, I shouldn't be long." Riku extended his hand to lead her to the ship. She looked at it for a second and took it. Riku noticed the hesitation.

"No it's okay. I can go with you." She went and sat down in the seat next to Riku's. Xion had never been in the Gummiship before, so she just looked around. 

"Xion, do you feel okay?" Riku sat down and looked back at her. His seafoam eyes looking at her worriedly.

Xion hesitated for a second, only looking up at him a few seconds after. "Yeah. I just didn't sleep well." 

Riku's worry didn't subside. He knew that was a blatant lie, but he wasn't going to bug her about it. "All right. Let me know if you want to come back home at anyt-"

"No it's okay. I wanna go with you, Riku." She smiled at him. That did make him feel a bit better. 

With that, they went off. They gave Gummiphones to Jack Skellington, Peter Pan, Mulan, Ariel, Hercules, Aladdin, and even a special one for Simba. In Halloween Town, they went trick or treating. In Neverland, Tinkerbell made them fly around with pixie dust, with Peter Pan and the others. They explored the Land of Dragons, swam around in Atlantica, and watched Hercules' champion match in Olympus. Xion wanted to see Jasmine's tiger in Agrabah, while Riku and Aladdin talked about the whereabouts of Sora. They couldn't stay long in Pride Lands, but they were there to witness the birth of Simba's daughter, Kiara. Xion almost broke into tears with how cute the newborn cub looked.

Throughout the day, Riku noticed Xion got progressively more happy, and more like herself. They still had 2 more Gummiphones to hand out, which made him hope she would fully feel better by the end of the day. 

"That leaves us with… Queen Minnie and Beast and Belle. We're closest to Disney Castle, though." Riku looked back at her just in time to see Xion's face light up. 

"That means we can see Pluto! I missed him so much! He's such a good boy!" Xion's reaction made Riku smile, and his heart skipped a beat. He would never say things like this out loud, but that was just too cute. He turned his head back before she saw his red cheeks though. 

"He'll be really excited to see you then, Mickey hasn't let him run around in different worlds lately. So I guess… He'll be even more excited." Riku let out a chuckle and started the ship up again. 

"Full speed ahead, Riku!" Xion pointed with high energy. Riku just laughed and blasted off. Riku had notified Mickey about having Pluto ready when he got there for Xion. She didn't know, of course. She gasped when she saw Pluto, and Pluto ran in circles until the door opened. Pluto ran in the door and jumped on Xion before she could even get up, licking her face while she pet him. Riku never saw anyone laugh so much out of happiness before. All he could do was laugh with her and pet Pluto too. Mickey walked in the ship laughing too. 

"Hey there guys! Minnie said to give ya some cookies she just made! And it looks like Pluto missed you guys, ahah!" Mickey placed a tray of cookies on the dashboard. They were little sugar cookies in the shape of paopu fruits. Pluto smelled them and managed to eat half of them. It was Riku's side, but he insisted it was fine. He gave Pluto a big pat on the head and smiled. Xion giggled. Riku got up and grabbed Minnie's new gummiphone and handed it to Mickey, who was now trying to hold back Pluto from eating Xion's half of cookies. Xion knelt down to Pluto and gave him a big hug and a tons more pets. 

"Okay buddy, I gotta go now. We still have one more Gummiphone to deliver! I'll come back sometime real soon, okay?" She looked at Pluto happily and the dog nodded excitedly, running back to the castle.

"Thanks for letting me know to bring Pluto out, Riku. Well, I'll see you guys next time!" Mickey waved and walked away. Xion looked at Riku and bent a little forward. 

"You told him to bring Pluto? When?" She tilted her head. 

"When I let you fly the ship. You didn't notice but I went to the back and called him." Riku and Xion laughed. 

"Thanks, Riku. Oh!" Xion grabbed the two cookies on the try that Mickey left and handed Riku one. "I can share." She smiled. 

Riku took it and looked at it for a second. "Thanks, but-" When Riku handed it back to her, Xion handed hers to him at the same moment. Riku felt his face heat up but he laughed. Xion giggled a bit, she looked a bit red as well. They took each other's cookie and ate them. Riku felt his heartbeat get faster. So did Xion. They both glanced at each other and glanced away. 

"A-Anyway, only one left." And they went off to Beast's Castle. It was actually sunny here, for a change. Granted, it was almost sundown, but there was sunlight nonetheless. Belle greeted them at the front doors.

"Oh, you must be Sora's friends! We heard about what happened. We'll keep an eye out for anything peculiar. Sora helped us so much, it's only fair." Belle smiled and grabbed the Gummiphone from Riku's hand when he offered it. 

"Thanks. It means a lot." Riku half-smiled.

A muscular, long hair man walked out of the doors.

"Hello there. As Belle said we will be keeping an eye out for anything. I owe Sora a lot." The man smiled brightly.

"Who're you?" Riku remembered a big hairy beast guy. Not whoever this was.

Belle and the man laughed. "Oh, you haven't heard? My beloved Beast has returned to his human form. It was… quite an eventful day." She smiled, but it seemed like a stressful day. Riku wasn't going to poke around, though. 

"That's right. Pleased to make your acquaintance. My name is Adam, but I understand if you want to call me Beast still." Adam bowed respectfully.

"That's great! Sora would be so happy for you guys!" Xion smiled, brighter than Adam did before. 

"Would you like to join us for our annual ball? It's about to start!" Belle clasped her hands together and looked at Riku and Xion, who looked at each other before they both answered.

"We gotta g-"

"We'd love to!" 

Riku laughed. "I guess I don't have much of a choice here." The four of them shared another laugh before they walked into the castle. Neither Riku or Xion had been in here before, and they were in awe. It was like the King's castle if it were… more cozy? Kingly? Riku didn't know how to describe it. Suits of armor lined the corridor the walked through, with chandeliers lined on the ceiling, lighting the way with torches between each set of armor. Paintings were also hung above them, depicting many other times in this world. 

"It's wonderful, isn't it?" Belle looked back at Riku and Xion who were both just looking around at everything, and laughed a bit.

"It's so pretty!" Xion looked at Belle, her eyes filled with excitement and wonder.

They continued walking down until they reached the main room. Many people were there, all dressed for the occasion. Adam grabbed everyone's attention. 

"My friends from… very far away have come to join us! Give them a warm welcome!' The room roared in clapping and cheering. Riku and Xion looked at each other and laughed, taking it all in. They both waved to everyone cheering for them. 

Music began Behind the doors at the end of the room, making everyone begin to go in. Riku and Xion followed behind Belle and Adam, who had locked arms as they went in. Everyone else did that, too. They looked at each other at the same time, making them look away and keep walking without locking arms. In the ballroom, both sides had long tables with chairs. The center was obviously the main part, with the biggest chandelier they'd ever seen.Riku and Xion opted to sit down at a table and watch everyone else. After the first song, Belle and Adam walked over to them.

"What's the matter? Don't know how to dance?" Adam looked at Riku. 

"No, not really. I never have." Riku looked up at him. 

"This next one you won't need to know much. Come, let me show you." Riku reluctantly went with Adam to the opposite side of the room. Belle sat down next to Xion and looked at her, curiously. 

"Are you two…?" She tilted her head.

"W-What? No… Why do you ask?" Xion's cheeks got red and she didn't look directly at Belle.

"You just look very close, is all. Look at him over there, he can barely do the basics." Belle pointed to where Riku and Adam were, giggling. Xion giggled too.

"I don't really know how to dance either." Xion looked at Belle and laughed to herself. "I can't really blame him for not knowing how to either." She looked back towards Riku, who stumbled over his own foot. 

"True, but for this next one you won't need to know much, like Adam said to Riku. Come on!" Belle stood up and extended her hand to Xion. She took it and smiled, going to the opposite corner of the room as Riku. The music started and everyone started dancing with whoever they were closest to. It was a pretty upbeat and swingy song, and everyone bounced to the tempo. Riku and Xion tried their best to go along with it, swapping partners like everyone else. It seemed like it was building up to something, but neither of them could lose their focus to think about it or else they'd risk falling. From person to person they danced and swung, trying not to fall or bump into anyone. The song got more intense and built up more until finally, the trail of people led them into the middle of the ballroom where they were thrown into each other when the music stopped. The room erupted in applause and cheer, leaving Riku and Xion just staring into each other's eyes, out of breath and shocked, their hands clasped together and their faces inches apart. Adam and Belle weren't even participating, they just watched from their seats and smiled at each other. 

When Riku and Xion came back into reality, their faces heated up and became about as red as Lea's hair. They let each other go and turned away with a "Sorry". They did both laugh a little bit, though. When returning to their seats, they were greeted with Adam and Belle laughing. 

"You both did wonderful!" Belle praised.

"Your footwork could use a little practice though, Riku." Adam chuckled and looked to Riku. "It's getting late. You kids better get home. You both look tired."

"Yeah, that really wore me out. Thanks for having us." Riku smiled and waved. 

"That was a lot of fun! We have to come back next time!" Xion beamed and waved, before following Riku out of the castle, after saying their goodbyes.

"Wow, it really is late. Roxas is probably losing his mind. He's probably gonna kill me for having you out this late." Riku laughed and ooened the door to ship, and then turned to see an upset Xion.

"Xion? Are you okay?" Riku put a hand on her should and she looked down.

"I… Don't want to go home yet. Can we go to Destiny Islands?" She looked up at him hopefully. He couldn't say no to that.

"Sure." He smiled and extended his hand. Xion smiled back and grabbed it, as he led her to her seat. It was a pretty quiet flight to Destiny Islands, but Riku wasn't very good at small talk. Once they arrived and were out of the ship, Xion spoke up.

"Riku? If a friend yelled at you for doing something they didn't like you doing, but you like doing it, what would you do?" Xion looked at the starry sky reflecting off of the clear water. 

This question caught Riku off guard, and he had to think for a moment. "I'd keep doing what I like doing. Sure, your friend may noy like it, but it's ultimately your life. You choose how to live it." He looked at Xion, deciding to take action now. "What's bothering you?"

Xion paused for a few seconds. But they felt like hours to her. "...Roxas yelled at me for being with you all of the time. I didn't even tell anyone that I was going with you today. I don't want to be yelled at for being with someone I l-... like being around." Xion felt her face heat up after almost letting it slip. 

Riku felt his face heat up as well. He knew she wasn't looking at him, and it was dark anyway, but he looked away. "I don't think this is… my place to answer that then. That's between you and Roxas. But I… I like being around you, too." His face got warmer and he couldn't even to her even if he tried. 

Xion's Gummiphone began to ring. Riku lookee over just in time to see her heart sink. He wanted to reach out, put a hand on her shoulder and reassure her.

She walked back in the Gummiship and answered. Riku waited outside. He could hear Roxas begin to yell when Xion mentioned she was with him. A few moments passed before it got quiet again. 

Roxas began with questions. When Xion mentioned she was with Riku, he started yelling. Two days in a row being yelled at by one of her best friends, just because they don't like who she likes? She wanted to cry. And she started to, as well. Roxas heard her start to and apologized but it had already been done. Lea picked up and told Xion to do what she wants and he'll talk to Roxas. Xion hung up and went back out. Riku had went to the center raised island across the bridge, leaning against the almost fallen tree. Xion slowly made her way to him. She didn't want him to see her upset, but his presence would make her feel better, so she decided to take the plunge. 

Riku was standing in the center, looking off into the deep blue waves and starry sky. Xion walked slowly up to him, to his right side. Riku didn't know what to say or do, he'd never been in a situation like this. Sure, he may have consoled Kairi, but she didn't need much of it. She had her own plan and Riku helped her to do that plan. But this feeling was unfamiliar. A flame burning inside his chest, his heart feeling like it would explode out of him. The fact he always thought about her, even if what he was doing had nothing to do with her. Even now he felt his body heat rise and all she did was walk up to him.

Xion had to tell someone eventually, right? She can't keep this bottled up. She hasn't even talked to Naminé about this. And she's known him longer than she has. She couldn't let Roxas' dislike of Riku take him away from her. 

Riku turned to her, seeing the emotional stress on her face. He put a hand on her shoulder, looking at her with his seafoam eyes twinkling in the night sky. "Xion, remember what I said back then? You need to make sure your decisions aren't just best for one person. They need to be best for everyone."

Xion's deep blue eyes stared back into Riku's. "Yeah… I remember. But…" She looked down again. It felt like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. Riku, the one who made everything right when something was wrong, the one who she looked up to while in Sora's heart, the one she watched and spent so many meaningful days with… She couldn't let go of him. But her best friend was upset with her for it. She started tearing up and collapsed onto Riku. Riku caught her and stood for a moment, unsure of what to do. He knelt down and led her with him, holding her like he did back then when he saved her. It wasn't exactly the same, she was still leaning on his chest, but she knew what he did. A few minutes passed, while he held her and caressed her back lightly. 

Her mind was made up. He wouldn't have done that if he didn't feel at least something similar for her. Xion wiped away any wetness from her eyes and looked at him, smiling. Hee face heated up a lot, too. "You didn't have to do that…"

"I know." He looked down at her, his face becoming red as well, smiling. "But I just felt like it." 

"I made up my mind." She kept smiling and leaned up a little more, closer to his face. This feeling in her heart tugged at her, more and more. 

Riku's face went beat red, instantly. Their hearts beated rapidly in unison. Their eyes locked onto one another. Xion leaned in a little more at first, and Riku hesitated. But the feeling in his heart was also tugging at him. They inched ever closer until their lips made contact. They pulled away rather quickly, but realizing what had just happened made them laugh and go in again. Xion wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling her closer, while Riku held her back and the back of her head. 

Needless to say, they were both in what felt like heaven. It's exactly what each other wanted, and nothing less.


End file.
